1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to the field of airline tickets and more particularly to the sale of pre-paid airline tickets.
2. Description of Related Art
Commercial airlines generally seek to optimize their per-flight revenues by pricing available seats in a multi-tiered system that provides discount incentives to advance planners, who have more flexibility, while charging a full fare to customers who must fly specific routes on short notice, e.g., the typical business traveler. By using historical data, the airlines are able to determine well in advance which of their offered routes will have empty seats. They can also estimate, with varying degrees of accuracy, which times of the day, week, and month will be the busiest for each route. However, the airlines are restricted in their ability to offer reduced rates for anticipated open-capacity routes, since any advertised reductions can compromise revenues from full-fare passengers and lead to price reductions by competitors.
The potential air traveler has a different set of competing interests. The traveler would like to obtain a low price for a ticket, an objective which is satisfied by airlines that offer reduced fares for early commitments. However, these “restricted” tickets force a traveler to commit early to a particular flight, with hefty financial penalties for subsequent changes. Many travelers would prefer to retain some scheduling flexibility, and airlines provide “open” tickets to meet this need. However, these tickets are expensive and hence undesirable to most travelers. Thus, the presently available options for air travelers can provide flexibility, but only at a significant monetary premium.
One approach to resolving the tension between the airlines' interests and the travelers' interests is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,620, entitled “Method and Apparatus for the Sale of Airline-Specified Flight Tickets.” This patent describes a system in which a traveler provides flight and price information, and an airline chooses a specific flight meeting the traveler's criteria. This may permit a traveler to meet price objectives without substantial advance planning. However, as a significant disadvantage, the traveler is then forced to accept whatever flight and seat the airline offers.
There remains a need for an airline ticket selling system that addresses a traveler's dueling interests in price and flexibility. The system should meet travelers' needs without unduly upsetting an airline's multi-tiered fare structure.